E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Acquires 1,600 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB boosted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 24.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in Graco were worth $691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Graco by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP increased its position in Graco by 359.2% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,986,000 after buying an additional 501,003 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Graco by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,736,000 after buying an additional 443,141 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Graco by 142.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,061,000 after buying an additional 383,599 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new position in Graco during the 4th quarter worth $23,446,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In related news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,882 shares of company stock worth $2,492,145 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $84.64 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.01, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $85.57 and its 200 day moving average is $84.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. Equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th were given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Graco Profile

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The Contractor segment offers sprayers to apply paint to walls and other structures; two-component proportioning systems that are used to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; and viscous coatings to roofs, as well as markings on roads, parking lots, athletic fields, and floors.